


Reflection

by twinksanta



Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:48:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25015741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twinksanta/pseuds/twinksanta
Relationships: Paul Matthews/Emma Perkins
Comments: 19
Kudos: 46





	1. Chapter 1

Hearing the front door open and close, Emma smiled slightly and headed down from the attic to meet Paul. “Hey, you.” She said, hugging him quickly for a moment. “How was work?”

“Oh, it was alright.” Paul replied, smiling back down at her. “How about you, how was your day off? Did you have fun?”

“Yeah, I did. I went to try out that new restaurant downtown, only got back about half an hour ago.” She answered before noticing that Paul’s gaze was focused down on her hand. Glancing down, Emma realized that she was still holding one of the photos from the attic and sighed quietly as she moved to set it down. “I’ve just been looking at some of these old pictures.” She said in answer to his unspoken question, frowning slightly at the frozen image of Jane and their parents. “It’s from a Christmas dinner just before I started high school.”

“Oh.” Paul looked over the photo, a confused frown crossing over his face. “… How come you’re not in it, Em?”

“Pfft, me? I hated being in pictures when I was younger, Paul, the only ones I’m in are special occasions and holidays.”

“Holidays like Christmas?”

Emma blinked at that, her frown deepening slightly as she glanced up at him. “… Yeah.” She said after a moment, returning her gaze to the photo. “Hey, yeah. Why am I not there? I remember them forcing me into so many family photos- I remember this one! Why am I not in it?” Grabbing the photo again, Emma went back up to the attic and started digging through the box where she kept the rest of them. Paul climbed up after her, watching her grow more and more agitated as Emma poured through all the images before she turned back to face them. “I… I’m not in any of them. But I remember being there.”

“Maybe, uh- maybe there were multiple pictures?” Paul suggested with a weak shrug. “The ones you were in could have gotten lost or something. It doesn’t make sense that you’re just not in any photos that you remember being in.” He moved to sit down next to her, a concerned frown on his face. “Do you know anyone who might have more copies of these? Maybe you could give them a call and… and…” Paul’s gaze had dropped back to one of the discarded photos, and a look of surprised confused crossed his face as he picked it up to look closer. “… Hey, is that General McNamara?”


	2. Chapter 2

“I appreciate you meeting me on such short notice, Colonel.” Emma said, taking a small sip of her coffee as she sat down across from her. “I know how busy you must be.”

“It’s no trouble at all, Ms. Perkins. It’s always a pleasure to see you.” Colonel Schaeffer responded with a warm smile and a nod. “I assume that since Paul’s not here, this is more of a personal issue? How can I help you?”

Emma hesitated for a few long moments, taking another drink of her coffee before speaking again. “Did my sister work for PEIP?” She asked, a slight frown tugging the corners of her mouth down. “I found an old photo of her and the General. Did Jane work here?”

Schaeffer paused, watching Emma for a moment. “Yes, she did.” She replied with a small nod. “Your sister was one of our best. We were truly saddened to hear about the accident, we will always miss her.” She raised an eyebrow slightly as she spoke. “May I wonder as to why you’re asking, Ms. Perkins?”

“Oh, right. Um, so, I was looking through some old photos the other day.” Emma began with a small shrug. “Y’know, as you do. I found one of Jane and General McNamara and figured, there’s a lot of weirdness around you guys, it’s not likely that you’ll be able to help with this but I thought you might know why I don’t have any pictures of me as a kid.”

“Oh.” The older woman blinked before sighing quietly, nodding again. “… Yes. I’m afraid that we do have an explanation for that, Ms. Perkins.” She answered. “I’ll tell you if you like- I never felt right keeping this a secret. But you won’t like hearing the truth.”

“I- what?” Emma frowned, narrowing her eyes slightly. “What do you mean? I don’t- tell me.” 

Colonel Schaeffer nodded, pressing her hands on her desk to prepare herself before speaking. “One year ago, PEIP lost one of our best agents. It was a few weeks before General McNamara was put in charge, and his predecessor wasn’t as good a man as he is. General Hart was… paranoid, and stubborn. He believed that nobody new should be brought into PEIP, in fear of us becoming widely known. So, when Jane died, he decided that it was a good idea out a new technology we had created. Of course, like with all new things, the first application of it is never perfect. Tell me, Ms. Perkins, are you familiar with the concept of cloning?” 

Emma nodded, her eyes widening slightly as wheels started to turn in her head. “Hart had our scientists attempt to make a clone of Jane. A perfect copy of her to fill her old position. Obviously, it didn’t work.” Schaeffer watched with a small frown as Emma’s gaze turned down to her hands, the younger woman staring at them with a deep frown. “The clone came out a few years younger than the original Jane had been, and was missing several important memories. The General didn’t see a good use for a failed clone, in his words, so we set her up in town with some added memories and a fabricated past. Without anybody else to link to the clone, nobody would ask questions about a young woman coming home from Guatemala for the first time in 10 years.”

After a few long moments, Emma looked back up at Colonel Schaeffer and reached up to wipe at her eyes quickly. “So, uh- I guess I was in all those photos after all.” She said, letting out a weak chuckle.

**Author's Note:**

> Alright so this is my first fic in this fandom, please give constructive criticism


End file.
